The present invention relates generally to currency processing machines, and, in particular, to a currency redemption machine which accepts bulk coins and selectively distributes the coins into one of a plurality of coin receptacles.
Currency processing machines generally have the ability to receive bulk coin and/or bank notes from a user of the machine. The currency processing machine may be a redemption type of machine wherein, after the deposited coins and/or bank notes are counted, funds are returned to the user in a pre-selected manner determined by the user, or to a card which stores electronic money, such as a smartcard. Alternatively, the machine may be a simple deposit type of machine where funds which have been deposited by the user are credited to his or her account.
In these currency processing machines, the bulk coins that are received from users are typically sorted into individual denominations and deposited into containers corresponding to each respective denomination as sorted. When these containers have reached their capacity, the operator of the currency processing machine must then physically remove the full container and replace it with an empty container so that the machine can be returned to its operational state. However, in many environments, the coins deposited by the user into the currency processing machine are removed from the currency processing machine and recirculated into other types of coin discharging machines.
For example, in casinos, gaming machines must be filled by a bag commonly referred to as a xe2x80x9chopper fill bagxe2x80x9d which contains a known amount of tokens/coins so hat the gaming machine can discharge payouts to users who have won a jackpot. In some existing currency processing machines, the tokens/coins are held in a coin container and subsequently discharged from the machine through an exterior spout. When the machine is full of tokens/coins or when a gaming machine requires a fill of tokens/coins, a casino employee (e.g. the machine operator) manually places a hopper fill bag over the exterior spout and instructs the machine to fill it. The casino employee then transports the hopper fill bag to a gaming machine requiring additional tokens/coins.
One disadvantage associated with prior art currency processing machines is the large amount of time required for an operator (e.g. a casino employee) to unload the processed coins from the machine. Such a large amount is required because some machines utilize a single convey track to move coins from internal coin containers to an exterior spout to dispense the coins to the operator. An associated disadvantage, is that many of these prior art machines are unable to transact with a user while the operator is unloading the processed coins from the currency processing machines. Another associated disadvantage is that some prior art machines recirculate coins received from a user and then use those same coins when discharging coins to another user. These machine take a significant amount of times to obtain the appropriate coins from within the machine and then to dispense the coins to the user.
A currency processing machine for processing currency including coins of mixed denominations that are input by a user comprises a coin counter for determining the aggregate value of the coins of mixed denominations, a coin bin for holding the counted coins discharged from the coin counter, and a coin sorter for storing coins discharged from the coin bin.